1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lighting devices, and more specifically to a hands-free multi-positional task light and method of use thereof, wherein the task light mounts to an object or rests upon a surface, and wherein the task light may be positioned and aimed to illuminate a selected task or work area.
2. Description of Related Art
Supplemental lighting for various tasks and appropriate luminaires that provide this light exist. Common forms of portable task luminaires include the use of a bulb-shaped incandescent lamp surrounded by a guard to protect the lamp from impact, or a reflector to redirect and focus the light to the desired area, or the use of both a reflector and enclosure to achieve both goals, and a handle for use in directing the light towards the desired area.
With the advent of LED (light emitting diode) sources having a high degree of directionality to the emitted light, the large reflectors can be eliminated reducing the overall profile of the luminaire but requiring an array of LED sources to achieve the desired amount of light. The array of LEDs can be contained in a clear, sealed polymeric chamber or tube for protection. This tube or chamber is often elongated in shape and extended or contiguous with another element of similar profile to form a handle for manual positioning.
One deficiency in these designs is their requirement of being hand-held which deprives the use of one hand for the completion of the intended task. As many tasks require the use of two hands, a number of hands-free solutions have been attempted including the use of a hanging hook to suspend the luminaire or incorporating a flattened portion onto the handle enabling the unit to rest upon a flat surface for some degree of hands-free operation.
Other forms of hands-free mounting have been developed including the use of magnets for mounting onto ferrous metal surfaces and assorted styles of clamps which increase mounting options.
Available LED task lights utilize a flat portion of the handle (usually at the end of the handle) to achieve some degree of hands-free operation. The disadvantages of such a design include the instability of the luminaire when set upright on a flat horizontal surface. This instability is due to the very high center of gravity relative to the dimensions of the flat area of the handle in contact with the horizontal surface. Further disadvantages include the inability to remain upright when placed on sloped surfaces and the inability to direct the light towards the desired task once positioned. Similarly available hanging hooks can only suspend the light in a vertical manner, which eliminates the ability to aim the light towards a specific task. Furthermore, the combination of the elongated LED array with the handle forms an elongated product that is less convenient to transport and difficult to store when not in use.
More advanced designs have multiple degrees of freedom of motion through the use of goose-necks, hinge joints, rotating collars and ball joints that enable a light to be positioned and aimed directly towards a task once mounted. These designs are significantly more complex, employing additional components, moving parts and connections which increase the size, weight and cost. Many of these designs compromise on their functionality due to these increases and will not retain all three of the desirable mounting alternatives which include;                free-standing on a flat or sloped surface,        clamped to some fixed object, and        hand-held.        
One such example of a design that does not include all three of these desirable mounting alternatives is U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,416 by Van Gennep that describes a bulky assembly consisting of vice grip pliers, an attached ball joint and a three-ring collar used to hold a flashlight. As stated above, devices such as these are not intuitively free-standing and are certainly not stable when placed on sloped surfaces.
There are, however, a few notable examples where devices are described that attempt to provide as many of the desirable mounting alternatives as possible despite the increased size, weight and cost such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,898 by Martin et al. where a self-locking, ratcheting clamp using fold-out finger clamps is disclosed that is incorporated into the base of the light. Even products such as this have limitations and disadvantages for example the device described by Martin et al. can not be mounted to objects with restricted access due to the bulk of the clamping mechanism itself and it has no way of stabilizing itself or otherwise adapting to sloped surfaces. Another problem with designs that combine the functions of the handle with the function of the base is that the physical requirements for each function differ significantly. In order to form a base with solid footing, the size of the footprint of the base should be as large as possible in both length and width, and the edges should be angular and well defined, but the requirements for a comfortable handle are to be smaller in diameter, more elongated in shape with smooth rounded corners. For these reasons the design described by Martin et al. is still suboptimal. Though there are designs that attempt to combine all three desirable task light mounting alternatives, none have successfully integrated an ergonomic and functional clamp design with a stable, free-standing, hands-free multi-positional task light.